Got a question for you preppers and ammo hoarders out there:
Most ammunition that you can buy in bulk is Full Metal Jacket (FMJ). It's cheaper than soft point or hollow point, and you can buy it in bulk more often. One of the reasons FMJ ammunition is so prevalent is because that's what militaries use. The Hague Conventions prohibit the use of any ammunition that easily expands or flattens, so FMJ is the ammunition that most militaries, including ours, issue to their troops. Since it's mass produced for the military, it's cheaper on the civilian market than SP or HP, and is what most shooters, including me, do most of their practice shooting with.
In the event of having to deal with a goblin breaking into your home, or a horde of goblins breaking into your neighborhood, a lot of people are going to grab their AR-15's or other rifle caliber carbines to deal with the problem.
My question is: Since you're not bound by the Hague Conventions in what ammunition can be used to shoot a human being, do you or would you have soft point or hollow point ammunition on hand in enough quantity in your carbine's caliber for these situations? Most people have SP or HP on hand for use in their pistols, but what about those who will use a rifle or carbine for defense? It seems to me that HP or SP would make sense for doing more damage with the first shot than FMJ, and less chance of pass-through of the goblin and into whatever is behind him.
Please leave thoughts in the comments. I'm actually curious about this.
10 comments:
I've got 'enough' HP to stop most arguments for all of the pistols and the AR. All the long rifle stuff is 'hunting' ammo, but worst comes to worst, I've got plenty of FMJ, and if I've had to default to that, the SHTF in the worst way. I keep two mags for each weapon loaded with HP (Gold Dot) and the AR is set up with one mag of Hornady BTHP.
You can also use side cutters on the tips of milsurp FMJ. It was done in Veitnam to devastating effect.
I have SP or HP ammo in adequate quantities for my defensive weapons (meaning a minimum of 100 rounds of high-quality expanding ammo for anti-personnel use for EACH WEAPON - not per caliber).
@dakotas5: That's actually very dangerous. If you snip off the tiniest bit too much, the lead core of the bullet can be thrust clean out of the jacket, leaving the latter (or fragments of the latter) stuck in the bore. Guess what happens when the next bullet you fire meets that obstruction - at rifle pressures? Ouch!
SP Rifle ammo for HD, as well as JHP ammo for handguns.
Shotgun ammo I'm not picky on, others are, but shotgun projectiles suck, and make up for it with volume and probability.
JHP Rifle rounds for Rioters. Over-penetration and collateral damage are a GOOD thing when there is an angry mob at your door or in your way!
Aside from my carry gun, everything else is locked up. If I have time to unlock the safe, any loaded magazine in there *should* be full of hollowpoints or softpoints. Whether it's 45gr varmint rounds for the AR, or 130gr JSPs for the .270, they'll do the job just fine.
(Admittedly, I'll come home from the range with a half-mag of FMJ sometimes and just toss it in the safe for the next range trip, but not often.)
I keep 1000 rounds of Mk 272 (77 grain BTHP 5.56) as my zombie box, and a friend reloads for me so as I have practice ammo in the same. The only thing I ever use FMJ (in my M4gery) for is cheap practice ammo for weapons drills.
For the FAL most of my ammo is FMJ on the other hand, though I do have plenty of .308 match for the bolt gun. I think in .308 the FMJ still hits hard enough not to be a factor in most situations.
Thanks guys. I've got HP ammunition for all of my pistols, and some hunting ammunition for the Mosin and the deer rifle. If I get a carbine of some sort, I'll have to make sure to lay on at least some HP/SP for it as well.
Given that I'm fond of 5.56x45mm, 20" barrels, and M193 ball, that's pretty much all she wrote for defensive rifle ammo. Given how M193 ball from a 16 or 20 inch barrel at 32 feet performs on meat or drywall, I'm quite satisfied that it will do the job -- if not an immediate "One Shot Stop", well, that's why they are in 30 round magazines.
Switching to some variant of HP or SP would likely produce LESS wounding at those ranges, and MORE "overpenetration", unless I went for something really pricey.
In 5.56x45mm, I have about 1200 rounds in clips, on bandoliers, in ammo cans, plus 900 or so loaded into mags. Other than the M193, I've got 60 rounds of M856 tracer (payment in kind for delinking a couple of SAW drums and loadingthem into clips in bandoliers for the owner). A couple of years ago, I found a couple hundred left-over blanks loaded into magazines when cleaning out my dufflebag loaded with my personally owned "field set" of webbing (where they'd been sitting since the mid-90's).
Handguns have at least 3 reloads of JHP each (not counting what's in the gun or the speedloaders/magazines with the gun), plus 100 rounds of ball for practice (except the revolvers, I'm a little low on range ammo.)
The shotun has 125+ No4 Buck, 20 or so slugs, and a couple hundred birdshot loads (Winchester 100-round party packs) for practice.
I've only got a handful of .303 on hand (I hate the "primed with dead flies and burnt match heads" of an appallingly large percentage of the Pakistani milsurp I've tried, would rather not run downloaded hunting ammo through my 100% as-issued No4MkI's, and am too cheap to realy stock up on the S&B ball).
I've got an uncracked spam can of 7.62x54mmR for the M1891. Plus 100 or so rounds.
Only a box for the M1 Carbine -- but it's a safe queen until I get around to borrowing a receiver wrench to replace the barrel (the chamber doesn't have pits -- it has potholes. . . WTF was the previous owner doing with it?!? I didn't think anyone had ever made corrosive ammo in .30 Carbine. . . )
How'd I get "900 loaded into magazines" for 5.56mm?!?
Edit to read "300 rounds loaded into magazines".
That's OK Geodykt. 30 loaded magazines of 5.56 didn't surprise me considering the crowd that hangs around here.
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